Reunions
by Eroll
Summary: The 10th Doctor and Rose go shopping to do some redecorating, and meet an old friend. Everything isn't quite right, however, and another reunion is just around the corner...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"I'm bored", said the Doctor suddenly, jumping up.

Rose didn't bother looking up from her magazine. "You're always bored, unless you're running for your life. Why can't you just be happy no-one wants to kill you?"

"Because that's boring", was the simple reply. He looked around the room they were in. It was a bit like a living room, with two comfy chairs and a coffee table. The walls were painted yellow, with a simple blue carpet. "I'm tired of looking at the same four walls. They're so…_boring_."

"Then redecorate."

"Fantastic! That's precisely what we shall do!" he cried as he pulled her from the chair. "Let's go!"

"Hang on a minute!" She restrained from being pulled from the room. "You don't just re-decorate the TARDIS do you?"

"Sure you do, I've done it hundreds of times. We won't do the console room, I did that recently, but we'll definitely do this room, and the kitchen and the storeroom, not the wardrobe, I like that. Maybe the courtyard, and my bedroom. We can do yours as well if you want, and maybe the secondary console room, I'm getting tired of all that wood…"

"There's a secondary console room?"

"Yes. How long have you been here Rose Tyler, and yet you've never been there? Anyway, I feel like getting another zero room installed, it's nice if you feel life getting on top of you…"

"What's a zero room?"

"Nothing much. Just a special room you can go to to clear your head and sort of meditate I suppose. It makes you feel better if you feel stressed or your regeneration goes wrong. I had one for ages, and then it got ejected from the ship." Rose looked at him, confused. "Long story. _Anyway_…" He paused, "Let's go!"

The Doctor ran from the room, Rose running after him. They turned this way and that, along the many corridors of the TARDIS, until they finally arrived in the main console room. They ran up the steps to the TARDIS console, and the Doctor started to flick switches and press buttons. Rose knew this meant he was setting the co-ordinates for whatever place in space and time they were going to. She stepped back and looked around the room. It was very impressive, with giant, coral like beams going from floor to ceiling. Despite the room itself being so large, the door was very small, the only thing on the inside that was the same size as the outside. It was light, dimly, with a yellowish glow, the only other colour in the room coming from the blue dematerialisation column in the centre of the room. Presently, it began to move up and down, meaning the Doctor had finished. He stepped back, and noticed what she was doing. He also looked around the impressive room they were standing in. "You know, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out in the end. The Gratians weren't that sure what I wanted, I had to draw pictures and everything…"

"Sorry, who? The Grete…"

"The Gratians. That's where we're going now, the planet Gratia, the only place for re-decoration. You see, they've only got one shop for the entire planet. It's massive, a hundred floors at least, one for each thing a Gratia might need to survive. They have one entirely devoted to flippers actually. Anyway, it's amazingly good quality and fantastic service at not a bad price. It's where I always go when I want to re-decorate.

"Right", replied Rose.

"You'll love it. They have the biggest clothes department in the universe" assured the Doctor


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two 

The dematerialisation column stopped moving. They had landed. Rose looked at the Doctor. He looked at her. Together they walked towards the door.

They walked out into a giant multi-storey car park, except the cars were not cars, but different spaceships. The TARDIS had landed itself beautifully into a space. "Not bad", remarked the Doctor. "The old girl can still pull off a good landing occasionally."

"Great", replied Rose. "Where are we?"

"In the car park for the Great Shop of Gratia. If you would like to proceed, we may."

"Whatever", was the reply. Off they walked.

They came to a door with a sign "To Shop" on it. "Through here", the Doctor instructed. Rose stepped through the door and appeared in the biggest room she had ever seen. It didn't look like a shop however, more like a reception, with a large desk and lots of small green chairs. There was a giant clock showing the time, date and year above the desk, but it was in a language Rose did not understand. Around the room where hundreds of what she assumed were lifts, and against one wall where many funny-shaped, grey pads on the floor. "Where are we?" she queried, again

"You like saying that today, don't you? We're on the ground floor of the Great Shop of Gratia, in the arrivement lounge."

"The arrivement lounge?"

"You really are full of questions today aren't you? This planet is over 200,000km across with hundreds of countries. If you live on the other side, it's not exactly five minutes to just nip over to the shops, with this being the only one. Therefore, every house is fitted as standard with a teleportation unit. When they need something, they just stand on it, and zip, here they are. Look…" Rose turned to see where he was pointing, to the wall opposite them. As she watched, one of the pads situated there glowed blue, until a person carrying many bags and a list appeared. She then hurried off towards the lift, muttering.

"They're…green?" questioned Rose

"They're…alien", was the reply. "Don't worry, you'll probably see some humans here, we're far enough in the future for your species to have left that little rock you call home."

"Good, I think. It's just, you know, it's hard to get used to seeing people, who aren't…"

"The same as you? I know what you mean, everyone has it."

"They're just so small, and bright green. They actually are little green men!"

"And women. Now come on." He dragged her towards one of the hundreds of lifts. As they crossed the giant room, the Doctor began to look around. He stopped, right in the middle of it, and Rose walked straight into him, as well as some other shoppers. "Sorry, sorry", she apologised. "Doctor, don't do that!"

"Sorry, it just seems" he paused, "different here." He thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "I'm just getting paranoid in my old age. It's been ages since I've been here, it could have changed. Yeah, last time was 3042, and this is…" He looked up at the giant clock above the desk, "3045?" He considered this for a moment, and then shook his head again. "No, I'm just being stupid. A lot can happen in three years. Yes, a lot can happen…" He continued across the room, Rose following.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Right", said the Doctor, "Where would you like to go?"

"I thought we were here to buy re-decoration stuff", replied Rose

"We are, but I thought we might take advantage of this magnificent shop first."

"Fine. I wish to visit this fantastic clothes department you mentioned then."

"Thought you would. Which department?"

"The clothes department, I just said that."

"I meant which department within clothes." He gestured towards the giant list of departments on the wall of the lift they were currently standing in. rose couldn't understand the language, but she could see that there were a _lot_ of departments. "There are precisely 27 different clothing departments", the Doctor informed her, "Which would you like?"

"Erm, I need a new jacket…"

"Jackets it is then. Jackets please!" he called to the lift. Instantly, it shot upwards, so fast Rose fell over onto the Doctor. "Whoa there!" he said. "They're pretty fast."

"No kidding", replied Rose as she straightened herself up. "Just a question Doctor, but will they have my size, seeing as the tallest locals on this planet seem to be no taller than my waist?"

"We'll just have to shop in the alien section then." On seeing her look, he added, "They're very prepared here. They know there's a big market for aliens coming and shopping. Why do you think they added the souvenir department?"

"One wonders", said Rose, as the lift continued to shoot upwards.

* * *

After what seemed like ages, the lift finally slowed down, and came to a halt. "Long journey", remarked Rose. 

"Big shop", replied the Doctor, stepping out the door.

They walked out into another giant room. Rose was getting very used to seeing things on gigantic proportion now. "Why are all the rooms so big if they're so small?" she queried, but the Doctor hushed her.

"Shh! This isn't right."

"How?" questioned Rose. She looked around the room. It was painted dark grey, and was lit quite dimly. There were many Gratians walking around looking at different jackets, which were hung neatly on neatly placed rails. "It looks perfect to me."

"Precisely. This is probably the greatest shop in the universe, but it is not organised. The last time I came here, nearly everything was in complete chaos. The rails were not placed neatly, the jackets were not ordered, and nobody shopped quietly!"

I was true; the only sounds from the shoppers were hushed whispers as they went around their shopping. It was strangely eerie.

"Maybe things have changed?" suggested Rose, "that's what you said yourself."

"Things don't change this much in three years, not here. Something wrong is going on here." He looked around. "Ah! Customer services, let's go query."

Rose rolled her eyes and followed him as he walked towards the desk. Suddenly though, he stopped, gasped, ran forward and jumped over it, almost squashing the poor girl sitting behind it.

"Doctor!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Doctor! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rose ran forward, and tried, unsuccessfully, to pull the Doctor off the unfortunate girl. He wouldn't come, he just kept hugging her, repeating the same words:

"Ace, ace, ace, ace, you're still alive!" He looked up, probably to see who was pulling him roughly, and spotted something he obviously recognised. He jumped off the girl, leaving Rose to pull her up. She was a young woman of about 25, with long brown hair. She was also human, which Rose was marginally happy about. They both looked over at the Doctor, who was now hugging a black, leather jacket. Rose could see that it had many badges on the front, and the word "Ace" in big red and yellow writing on the back. "Oh, I've missed this jacket", he supplied as an explanation when he looked up. "I can't believe you're still alive, I thought you were dead!" he told the girl, "This is fantastic!"

"I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to leave this floor before I call security."

"Don't you recognise me Ace? Oh, no, sorry, of course you wouldn't…"

"Apologising won't help you now. I don't know how you know my name, but you will have to leave now!"

"It's me!" the Doctor shouted, "The Doctor!"

Ace stopped on the way to the microphone allocated on the desk. She looked at the Doctor. "I do not appreciate, sir, people jumping on me and almost suffocating, then touching my things, which you are still doing", the Doctor hurriedly put the jacket back on its peg, "and then pretending to be people they're not. Now, please leave!"

"But I am! The Doctor I mean! I left you on Gallifrey, I thought you died in the war, but you obviously got away beforehand. You know about regeneration, you lived on Gallifrey for goodness sake!"

"I don't know what you are talking about sir. The Doctor was a short man who wore a bowler hat and carried an umbrella. You look nothing like him. I will have to call security now."

"How can you not remember? What happened…oh. Memory compress." He walked forward, grabbed her before she could touch the microphone, and pointed the sonic screwdriver at her. She suddenly went limp in his arms.

"Doctor!" Rose cried. She had been watching all this time, feeling very conscience of the shoppers watching this interesting turn of events. She had realised quickly that this girl was another of the Doctor's previous companions, like Sarah-Jane and K9 had been. But when she refused to admit it was he, she became suspicious. When the Doctor had appeared to knock her out, with no explanation at all, she decided she had to intervene at last. "What do you think you're doing?" she inquired for the second time in five minutes.

"Just reversing her memory squash." On seeing her confused look, he continued, "I left Ace on Gallifrey at her request. Obviously, she decided to leave at some point, and when she did, they performed a memory compress on her to squash all her memories of Gallifrey. I'm now reversing that process, but it's a bit of a shock."

"Why don't they just erase the memories?"

"You should never permanently get rid of someone's memories, it's bad for the brain. Obviously the Time Lords didn't want her to spread the secrets of Gallifrey around, pompous gits, but they didn't want to harm her. A memory squash does no damage." Ace began to stir in the Doctor's arms. "Hey there," he said. "Do you remember me now?"

"Professor?" she asked, quietly. She then got up and pushed him off. "You took your time, I thought I was never going to see you again. Where have you been?"

"That's more like Ace," the Doctor remarked. "Glad to have you back."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"This is Rose." The Doctor introduced the two girls.

"Nice to meet you", Rose said.

"So you're the lucky one who gets to travel with this loser?" was Ace's reply.

"Hey! Watch it! I just replaced your memories" the Doctor objected

"Well it's true"

"I suppose. It's good to see you though, I was so scared you were dead."

"Yeah, I heard about Gallifrey. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, honestly", he assured, at the puzzled look on her face. "So, what happened with you?"

"I got bored of Gallifrey. Maybe it's the cat in me, but whatever." Seeing the look on Rose's face, she started to explain, and then stopped. "It's a long story, we won't go into it now. Anyway, I left Gallifrey, and did a bit of travelling on my own. I then found this place, liked it, and settled down."

"How long ago was that?"

"About a year."

"I see…" the Doctor appeared to think.

"What is it?" inquired Ace

"It's just…has this place always been so organised?"

"As far as I can remember, yes", was the reply. "Why?"

"The Doctor doesn't remember it being organised, and is suspicious", supplied Rose.

"Oh," replied Ace. "Well, you're welcome to look around if you want to, it'll be just like old times!"

"Cool," responded the Doctor, and started to search the desk area.

* * *

Way above the planet, in a spaceship in orbit, a man was sitting watching a screen. On it, a man in a long brown coat searched animatedly around a desk, while two young human girls, one with short blond hair, one with long brown hair watched, if slightly confused. 

"Well, well Doctor. Yet again, you have appeared, yet again, you are suspicious, and yet again you are poking your nose in where it is not wanted." The man pondered this for a moment. "Let's give you something to really worry about, shall we?" He reached forward and picked up a microphone, exactly identical to the one on the desk on the screen. He looked at the screen again , and clicked his fingers.

* * *

Suddenly, Ace stiffened. 

"Ace?" inquired Rose. They had both been watching the Doctor search the desk. He now turned around at Rose's words, and looked at Ace with a concerned look on his face.

"You must leave now!" shouted Ace. Her voice sounded mechanical, like it was coming out of a robot.

"Ace? What are you on about?" protested the Doctor. "It's me, remember? The Doctor, and Rose?"

"You must leave now!" repeated Ace. When they did not move, she looked at them both, and then began to push them, roughly, towards the lift.

"Ow! What are you doing?" the Doctor and Rose said in unison. Ace continued to manhandle them off the floor, repeating, "You must leave, you must leave!" She pushed them into the lift. "Arrivement lounge", she instructed the lift. Before the doors closed, she turned to the Doctor, and said, "You shall not return to this shop. Please go elsewhere." As the doors shut, they saw her walk away, back to her desk. And then it was just the Doctor and Rose, plummeting downwards.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Roight, I haven't written in ages because of a mixture of GCSEs and laziness, but I am forcing myself to do so now. Also, my brother hath informed me that I use the word "and" too much, so I'm trying to cut down…**_

**Chapter Six**

The Doctor and Rose were back in the TARDIS, in the same room in which the Doctor had had his revelation to redecorate. Yet again, Rose was sitting in a chair reading a magazine. Although she knew that what had just happened was not normal behaviour from your average human being, she wasn't particularly worried. The Doctor would sort it out, and it wasn't as if this was out of the ordinary for them.

The Doctor was pacing. He walked round and round the room, and Rose could tell he was thinking. Whatever he was thinking about, he was definitely not happy about it. Suddenly, he turned around, and said, "That wasn't right."

"Great insight", replied Rose, "We're forced out of that shop by scarily strong little green men at gunpoint, and then forced to leave the planet on pain of death? No, that was precisely what should happen on your average shopping trip!"

"I didn't mean that", was the Doctor's comeback. "As you said, us being forced out shouldn't and wouldn't be normal, and yet the Gratians didn't bat an eyelid."

"How do you mean?"

"Normally, if you saw something like that happening when you were shopping, you'd notice, right? You wouldn't necessarily intervene, but you'd look up, am I correct?" At her nod, he continued, "Well, I was watching those "little green men" as you so quaintly put it, and not one of them seemed the slightest bit confused. They just carried on with their shopping as if it was the most normal think in the world. That's not normal."

"But we were in Gratia. Different planet, different culture. Maybe things like that do happen there normally?" was Rose's suggestion

"Not on Gratia. Safest place in the world. Sure, the shops very haphazard, and they aren't the most organised of people, but nothing bad will happen to you there. Not in their nature. They welcome everyone, and would never _dream_ of forcing someone out like that, let alone threaten to kill them. I don't even remember them having guns. It doesn't make sense. As well as…" he paused

"As well as what?" When he didn't reply, Rose got up and faced him head on, "Doctor?"

"As well as Ace", he said eventually. "I wouldn't let myself believe it at the time, but now I think about it, there was definitely something wrong about her."

"Doctor, she went stiff and forced us out of the shop. Yes, that is something wrong."

"Before that, after I took off the memory compress. She said she liked Gratia and settled down. That's not Ace. She wouldn't settle down, and she definitely wouldn't settle down in Gratia. It's a very…stale place. If Ace got bored of Gallifrey, then she would never last a year on Gratia."

"I see. So, something's wrong and suspicious is it?"

"Yes"

"And we're going back there tomorrow, despite being informed that we would be killed if we did?"

"Correct", replied the Doctor. On seeing the exasperated look on her face, he defended himself. "What else are we supposed to?"

"I suppose you're right Doctor, I suppose you're right." Rose sat back down and continued with her magazine.

_**17 "ands" in 532 words. Not bad…**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Rose thought that they would be ambushed the minute they walked back into the giant arrivement lounge. But instead, nothing. As before, they weren't given a second glance, they were just a couple come to buy something from the famous Great Shop of Gratia. That didn't put her at ease though. She still felt that they were all secretly watching them as they crossed the room to the lifts. The Doctor didn't seem to notice. He strode confidently towards the giant boxes cut into the walls. They entered, and Rose got a sense of déja-vu as the Doctor, yet again, shouted happily "Jackets please!" and the lift shot upwards. As before, she fell over, and the Doctor helped her up, laughing. It didn't feel like they going back to the scene of hostility and weirdness they had been forced to leave the day before. It just felt like they were going on a shopping trip together, to buy jackets. Rose knew that couldn't be further than the truth, however, and it made her feel uneasy.

The doors opened. Rose saw the same organised rails of jackets in different shapes and styles. They stepped out, and there was the same Customer Service desk, with the same young woman standing behind it, looking amazingly bored. Rose hadn't known precisely what the plan was, but she hadn't thought that it would be to simply walk up to the desk and engage Ace in seemingly pleasant conversation. But that was precisely what the Doctor did.

"Well, Ace, long time no see?"

"Can I help you sir?"

"Yes, in fact you can. You can tell me what is going on here, and who is behind it, thank you, please, nicely."

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't understand what you mean. Have you a jacket you wish to return."

"No. No I haven't. But I have a friend I would like to reclaim, thank you.

"Doctor, what the hell are you doing?" Rose hissed in his ear, as Ace looked at the Doctor, and then at the microphone on her desk. "Are you trying to get us kicked out again?"

"I'm not precisely sure", was the not very comforting reply. "Now, can I have some service here please!" he suddenly shouted, ringing the bell on the desk.

Ace appeared to make up her mind. She reached for the microphone, ready to call security and get this man removed. But before her fingers were able to grasp it, she stiffened.

"Oh great!" shouted Rose. "That's precisely what we wanted!"

"Shh!" hushed the Doctor. "Look!" He pointed at the rest of the shop. Previously, it had been full of Gratians, calmly buying jackets. Now it was full of Gratians, standing as if to attention, their eyes glassy and fixed. Rose looked at the girl standing next to her, and back to the small, green individuals dotted around the shop. The similarity was uncanny.

"Oh dear," was all she could think of to say.

* * *

The man was still watching the screen. He lifted the microphone to his lips, and spoke, clearly and plainly, "The one in the long brown coat, and the human wearing the pink jacket are dangerous. They must be escorted to the containment room. Immediately." He replaced the microphone, and watched with satisfaction as what he had ordered took place, like clockwork.

* * *

Rose watched with horror, as every single Gratian in the shop advanced towards them, arms outstretched. The Doctor did not appear to share her feeling. As they advanced, he looked excited, practically elated. "Come on!" he shouted with relish, "Take us to your leader!" The Gratians appeared only too happy. They grabbed the Doctor and Rose and began to push and pull them roughly towards a large, grey door at the back of the room. Rose wondered how she had failed to notice it before. It was so formidable looking.

* * *

"You always were a fool, Doctor", the man stated as the door closed on the Doctor and Rose, "and that will now become your downfall." He stood, and went to greet his guests.**_Wow! Long chapter. I had a lot to say…_**


	8. Chapter 8

_**So maybe that last chapter didn't really deserve a "Wow!" with the length, but I was in a weird mood, and it was longer than any of the others… Anyways, let us continue…**_

**Chapter Eight**

The passage seemed to go on forever. It twisted and turned in every direction, and Rose was dragged along with it. The pace never slowed. Her arms were beginning to ache from being pulled this way and that by the over-enthusiastic Gratians.She wondered why they had had to come back. They could have just happily left Gratia forever, not worrying why Ace had gone weird, orwhy the Gratians hadn't noticed. For once it couldn't have been their trouble. But then she saw the Doctor. He was looking straight ahead, to the tall, strong woman leading the procession, his eyes never wavering. And Rose understood. When a companion, past, present or future, was involved, the Doctor couldn't just walk away. "Companion?" Rose muttered to herself. She had never thought of herself as a "companion" before. But she was. Not for the first time, she began to wonder how many there had been, how the Doctor had felt towards them, whether he still thought of them. She watched him, watching Ace, and pondered some more.

* * *

The Doctor wasn't worried about the many Gratians intent on taking him somewhere he didn't want to go, probably somewhere dangerous, and causing him as much pain as possible on the way. He knew there would probably be an explanation eventually, possibly involving some sort of alien wanting to take over the world. Old news. But the Doctor was worried. He looked to the front of the ragged procession. Ace was there, leading them to their unknown destination, tall, strong, determined as always. "You never were a follower were you?" he muttered to himself. All this time he had been worried stiff about her, scared she was dead, scared it had happened again. Just as he had stopped worrying about that, he had to worry about something else. "Typical Ace" he decided. He looked back at Rose, who appeared to be staring at him. He shot her a grin, and she smiled weakly back. He couldn't blame her, it wasn't a great situation.

* * *

The man walked slowly to the console room of his ship. He set the co-ordinates for the Great Shop of Gratia, and watched as the dematerialisation column began to move up and down.

**_I think this time I am allowed to say "Wow! Short chapter! I didn't have much to say", because it is. Sorry, but I promise more will happen next time. At least, I think it will. You'll just have to wait and see…_**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine 

The dematerialisation column slowed and came to a halt. The man started towards the door of his ship, and then decided against it. "Let us see what the Doctor has to say on the situation", he said quietly to himself, and walked back into the heart of his machine.

* * *

Eventually, the procession halted. They had come to a small, grey door, which was almost invisible against the grey wall. The door was opened, and Rose and the Doctor were forced painfully inside. "You will wait here until he comes", Ace instructed them.

"Erm, excuse me? Who is…" the Doctor began to ask, but the door was already shutting "…he? Oh well, I've always loved surprises. Some more than others, however." He looked around the small cell, with its grey walls and small, grey bench. "Home sweet home, for now," he decided, and sat down.

Rose joined him on the bench. "You're worried, aren't you?" she queried, looking at her friend's troubled face.

"Me? Nah! I'm never worried. We've been in worse situations than this. Like when we were surrounded by those Cybermen wanting to delete us. I think after that we can manage being locked in a cell. At least there's nothing dead in here. Though actually, you never know…"

"No, I didn't mean that." The Doctor stopped peering around the room, and returned her concerned stare. "I mean about Ace. You're worried about her, aren't you?"

The Doctor sighed. "You got me. Yes, I am. Happy?"

"Not really." Rose turned to gaze around the room. "We're the only things you really worry about, aren't we?"

"Who's "we"?" inquired the Doctor

"Your…" Rose paused, breathed deeply, and continued, "…companions."

The Doctor smiled. "Yes, I suppose "you" are."

"How many have there been, Doctor? How many of "us"?"

"I didn't count! You're not notches on the TARDIS console…that sounded dodgy didn't it?"

"Extremely", Rose replied giggling. Suddenly, she was serious again. "Why do you never talk about anybody else though?"

"Because it hurts", was the reply. He turned away, and leant against the wall.

"Maybe it would hurt less if you talked about them", Rose suggested. There was no response. "Please Doctor, I want to know."

He turned back around to look at her. "I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Anywhere, just tell me."

"Well…there's Ace of course, and before her came Mel. She was a slightly annoying, obsessed with healthy eating, but her heart was in the right place. _Very_ high-pitched voice though. Erm, who next? Jamie! Jamie was brilliant!" And he was off, describing person after person. There were so many, but Rose found she didn't care. The Doctor described them all happily and fondly, and as he spoke of each of them a light seemed to appear in his eyes, one of excitement and happiness. She learnt about them all: Jamie, the young Scot who may not have been intelligent, but made up for it in loyalty; Zoe, the highly intelligent and logical young girl from the late 21st century; Jo, the inexperienced spy working for UNIT who was fiercely loyal and always ready to help, even if she didn't actually help that much; Romanadvoratrelundar, the Time Lady who preferred to be known as Fred; Susan, his granddaughter…

"Hang on a minute! Your _granddaughter_?"

"Yes, my granddaughter. Don't look so shocked; even Time Lords have to reproduce. Now where was I? Oh yeah, Adric! Such an intelligent boy, he even had a special badge for mathematical excellence. Yeah! Adric…" the Doctor trailed off.

"What? Tell me more about Adric."

"Adric…Adric died. We met the Cybermen, and he helped to stop them. However, in doing so, he got stuck on a spacecraft hurtling towards prehistoric earth, full of evil, silver, twisted, _things_!" Rose had never seen the Doctor so hurt and angry, and she'd seen both, a lot. She reached out, and took his hand. He looked up at her, and she was surprised to see the shadow of a tear in the corner of his eye. She squeezed his hand, and he smiled. "He was just a boy, such promise."

"Has anyone else…died?"

"Only Katarina. She was a handmaiden from Ancient Troy. I hardly knew her, it was her first trip, and yet she sacrificed herself to save everybody." The tear was starting to become more than a shadow. Rose leaned in and gave him a hug, her assurance that she now understood. She now understood that however many people travelled in that ship through time and space, the Doctor would care about them all as deeply as the rest.

Suddenly, a voice rang throughout the cell. It was a mocking, cutting voice that could only belong to someone with dark plans and thoughts.

"You always were an emotional fool, Doctor."


	10. Chapter 10

**_Ok, so I know I haven't written in a long time. In my defence, I haven't been here for ages. And things happen. Important things at that. Like results, and family meetings… And on top of that I am an extremely lazy person. But I'm here now, and it's all all right, apart from the fact that my computer screen keeps blanking out…_**

_**Anyways, here we go, the big 1-0…**_

**Chapter Ten**

The Doctor jumped up, looking around for the source of the voice. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

Patronising laughter was the only reply he got. Rose watched as the Doctor ran around their tiny cell, looking, feeling, trying to find where the mocking laughter was coming from. But it only increased, until he could take it no more.

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, "I don't know who you are, or how you seem to know my name, but just stop the laughing!"

The laughter stopped, only to be replaced with a mocking voice, "Wrong, Doctor. I think you know exactly who I am, but are refusing out of stubbornness to believe yourself. Which is interesting, as you used to be so sure of yourself. Too many back talking _"companions"_ worn you down?"

"Don't you dare talk about them like that! You're nothing compared to them, nothing!"

"Oh really? And yet I have one locked in a cell, and another under my complete control. Interesting how wrong one man can be so many times in one day. And, oh yes, that would be the same man I also have locked in a cell, running round in circles. Feeling slightly defeated, oh Doctor?"

The Doctor sat down on the bench. Rose looked at him, and was shocked to see how defeated he did look. He wasn't scared or sad though, he just seemed tired, and old.

"Thank you Doctor. Finally we seem to be getting somewhere. Now, I expect there are some things you wish to know, for instance how I am still alive…"

"Actually, I couldn't care less."

"Now really Doctor, is that nice. You never used to be this rude."

"But since we last met, I have seen things that you could never dream of in your nightmares. Things you should have seen as well. But you didn't, you coward!" The Doctor jumped up, angry once more, "And if you had, Gallifrey might still be here!"

"Don't blame me for the destruction of Gallifrey! If you had been mildly intelligent you would have ignored the call to go to war, like I did. But as usual, you went running back. Renegade Time Lord my a…"

"I am not a coward, unlike some Time Lords I could mention!"

"Enough! You seem to forget, Doctor, that if I wish I could quite easily kill you, and two of your beloved companions, seeing as there are guns stationed on the ceiling of your cell. Somewhere you didn't think to look in your little "let's-run-around-like-a-chicken" game." Rose looked up, and found she was looking straight down the barrel of a futuristic gun. "Adapted from Dalek technology, they'll kill you in one shot. Good, no?"

"Oh yes, brilliant. You have been a busy boy," replied the Doctor, sitting back down again. "Go on then, tell me, how are you still alive even though you've used up about five hundred and three regenerations. I know you're gagging to."

"You know what Doctor, this little tale is so good, I think I shall tell it to you face to face. See you in a second." There was a click, like a telephone had been put down, and silence.

Rose turned to the Doctor. "_What_ was all that about?"

"Just a reunion with an old school friend." The Doctor smiled at the look of disbelief on her face. "Just wait and see."

The wall opposite where they were sitting began to crackle, and lines appeared across it, just like a television that hasn't been tuned yet. The lines began to fade away, and a face started to come into focus. "Rose, prepare to meet the Master," was the Doctor's only warning, as the face became clear.

And Rose screamed

**_Not to ruin the marvellous bit of tension I have just created, but is anyone else as shocked as I am at the blue suit? And if you don't know what I'm on about, go on the Doctor Who website __and you may understand._**

_**I mean really, a blue suit with a brown jacket? I like it not!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**_Ok, you know what I'm gonna say. Sorry I haven't written in so long. Now that's over with, let us continue, shall we?_**

**Chapter Eleven**

"You never quite got the hang of moisturiser did you?"

Rose looked at the Doctor incredulously, and was so shocked at his laid back attitude to the disgusting _thing_ on the screen, she actually forgot to continue screaming.

"Hilarious to the last Doctor," replied the creature. Rose thought it was talking, but she wasn't sure whether the thing moving was a mouth or not.

"That's a…a Time-Lord?" she whispered to the Doctor.

"You could say that. He used to be, but I'm not so sure anymore."

"Quiet!" the creature shouted, and a ball of phlegm shot from the "mouth" and hit the screen. Rose recoiled in horror.

"Mate, you have problems." The Doctor walked towards the screen and looked it straight in the eyes, or what may have been its eyes. "How low you have sunk. Where's the pride you used to have, the arrogance? The old Master would sooner die than look like this."

"Then it is obvious how little you knew the "old Master", as you so quaintly put it."

Rose couldn't take her eyes away from it. The face on the wall was horrible, if you could call it a face. The skin was pulled tight over misshapen bones, which protruded at odd angles. The mouth was a slit, nothing more, with what looked like a lump of flesh quivering inside. There were no teeth, and one could hardly call a single nostril in the middle of the whole mess a nose. But the worst was the eyes. One was big, round and overly bloodshot, with a small black dot in the centre. The other appeared to have had the eyelid fused shut over it, by means of a giant blood clot. A layer of grease and blood, covering the entire face, finished off the effect. Rose found herself starting to wretch.

"It seems your latest _companion_ is unable to cope with the horrors of space and time travel," the Master observed, mockingly. "Do you think she would like to sit outside?"

"Enough of the snide comments will you?" The Doctor walked over to Rose and helped her sit back on the bench. "If you're gonna tell use, just tell us."

"Fine then," the Master attempted to smile. The skin at the side of his mouth began to crack under the pressure, making Rose start heaving all over again. The Doctor comforted her, stroking the top of her head. "It's quite a short story really. When you were staggering around trying to find out who you were after that fun time we had in San Francisco, my essence managed to escape from the Eye of Harmony, and I decided to stop off on Gallifrey. I then found several host bodies, none of which lasted very long. Time-Lord bodies are surprisingly weak when it comes to inhabitation. The hearts get all jumpy. I travelled around a bit, moving from body to body, until I found this one. The perfect body."

"The perfect body? Are you crazy? That twisted, mutated body is perfect for nothing!"

"Oh contraire, Doctor. It is only the face that is in any way below perfection. This is the body of a Domesian, a member of one of the most strong and robust species in the universe. Sadly, living Domesians tend to put up a bit of a fight when it comes to inhabitation, and so I had to find a dead one. The only dead one I could find was one that had had a slight accident."

"A slight accident? That Domesian looks like it's been dunked in acid!"

"Ok then, rather major incident, arranged by myself. Do you know how hard acid is to come by on Domesia?"

"I really don't care. What I do care is that you are inhabiting the body of a dead Domesian, which you killed, in a very inefficient way may I say, and have now arrived on Gratia, no doubt in a stolen TARDIS, and are somehow controlling the inhabitants in a way that no one should be able to do. You may good with the whole hypnosis, but you're not that good."

"Are you sure, Doctor? And I take your criticism of my murder method, but you must understand that Domesians are very difficult to kill. Besides, I didn't want the actual body harmed."

"True, but _acid_? It's very crude…"

"Excuse me!" Rose had been silent throughout the entire conversation, attempting to control her nausea, but this was too much. "I believe we're getting off topic slightly!"

"I believe your _companion_ is actually correct," the Master cut in before the Doctor could say anything. "And now, I must bid you farewell, Doctor and significant other. For now, you must die."

The screen cut out, leaving Rose and the Doctor staring, yet again, at a grey wall.

_**If you're slightly confused about the San Francisco bit, and the Eye of Harmony and all that, watch "Doctor Who: The TV Movie", and then read "The Eight Doctors", I think by Terrence Dicks. I may be wrong there…**_


End file.
